The
Red Hook StarªRevue
JUNE 2015
SOUTH BROOKLYN’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
FREE
COBBLE HILL TO CHANGE FOREVER AS LICH MORPHS INTO SKYSCRAPERS by George Fiala
If Cobble Hill residents thought losing their hospital was bad - they ain’t seen nothin’ yet. A crew of well dressed professionals representing the Fortis Group, presented what seemed like a take it or leave it proposal for residential development of the former Long Island Hospital (LICH) campus at the annual meeting of the Cobble Hill Association (CHA). They presented two plans - both of which include skyscrapers. What they called a Master Plan, which involves zoning changes and the cooperation of the community and the city council, calls for three large towers west of Hicks Street where the parking garage now stands. If they are unable to get that cooperation, the threat was to build an as-ofright plan. This plan affords them less square footage for residential units. The as-of-right plan that they rolled out places a 44 floor tower on Pacific Street just west of Henry. Everyone in the room understood that this was meant as a threat - dropping a huge tower in the midst of a historic brownstone neighborhood. The rendering they presented was an eye boggling jaw dropper - a huge building casting a giant shadow over Cobble Hill. In reality, either plan changes Cobble Hill forever. The Cobble Hill Association was one of the community groups that was part of the lawsuit trying to prevent New York State from closing LICH. The hope was to have the sale made to another hospital group in order to maintain the 155 year-old institution. Despite the best efforts of the community, and much political grandstanding, the sale was made to a real estate developer - the Fortis Property Group.
Red Hook Star-Revue
Everybody in the room knew that the big issue was going to be height. Prior to the Fortis presentation, Laurie Maurer, an architect and CHA member, read a set of general guidelines for the LICH development that she called “Basic Principles.” The biggest of these principles, the one called most important, was that any new building adhere to the 50 foot height limit that the rest of the community, is limited to. This height limit is part of the NYC Landmarks law, which covers most of Cobble Hill, but not the LICH buildings. In 2013, local political representatives, including councilman Brad Lander, requested (continued on page 3)
Five years of the Star-Revue
T
his issue marks five years of publishing for the Star-Revue. When I began the paper in June, 2010, I really didn’t know much about the neighborhood. I’m still learning.
I did know something about community journalism. I grew up in Queens, went to high school in the Bronx, and then off to college in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I always knew that I wanted some sort of career in communication, and growing up listening to Jean Shepherd, I tended towards radio. While working as an FM radio announcer, I began writing record reviews for the local newspaper, which back then was called an ‘alternative’ weekly newspaper. I went from writing reviews to selling advertising and helping with the layout. When I moved back to NYC in 1977, I found myself doing the same thing, but on a larger scale, in Greenwich Village. I happened upon the Villager, that neighborhood’s community newspaper that had been publishing (and still is), since 1933. After a week or so of selling ads on Hudson and Bleecker Streets, I became the advertising manager, and later, general manager . Publisher Mike Armstrong had another paper, The Brooklyn Phoenix, and in 1983 I moved over to Brooklyn, and have been here ever since. I started a direct mail company, but publishing never truly left my brain. Five years ago I moved the mailing business to Union and Van Brunt Street. I had been
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Our table at our Red Hook Fest some years back to Red Hook here and there over the years, but never paid it much mind. For many of us who lived in neighboring communities, Red Hook had been a place to avoid, or later on, a place that was always on the verge of being the next big thing. Union Street was on the verge, and I soon discovered that Red Hook was a pretty interesting neighborhood, too interesting not to have its own newspaper. Which begins the story of the Red Hook Star-Revue. We are in the midst of preparing a slam-bang 5th Anniversary Souvenir issue, which will be published this fall in conjunction with a big birthday party! So stay tuned. - GF
June 2015, Page 1